Before actually getting to Chengdu in mainland China we flew into Hong Kong as we had to first get our visas. It actually turned out to be a very quick one day process (once the lengthy form was complete with names of relatives, employment history, and financial info) and then we were able to get our flights to Chengdu. Hong Kong was packed full of people between the mountains and the sea, but was organized and rather enjoyable compared to the dirty chaos of the mainland. Our hostel did allow smoking in the one common area available so it was pretty gross with no real ventilation on the 3rd floor of a high rise. We did however enjoy a wonderful juice stand squeezing nearly any kind of juice you could imagine just outside the hostel as well as a Vietnamese place we frequented several times.

Due to the size of China and our one week time limit we decided to choose one location and stay there for the duration, which was actually our longest time in one location the whole trip so far. Leah was also feeling a little under the weather so it was good to rest for awhile. It turned out that we picked one of the best hostels of the entire trip in Chengdu Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel. We thought by going out west in China where there is more of the natural environment to see and supposedly more laid back people and away from the major east coast cities that we would enjoy it more. Wrong. Chengdu is a small city by Chinese standards at around 10 million people. The pollution is awful, the majority of people are extremely rude with plenty of cheats trying to take advantage of you, constant honking and people driving on the sidewalks as there are no real traffic laws, avoiding people spitting on you on the street and any streams of urine you may catch, watching out for dogs pooping on the sidewalk along with human babies and trash thrown anywhere without a care. What we saw in China was an eye opening introduction to the still developing country steeped in ancient traditions. We never really adjusted to the pollution, constant noisy clamor, and behavior that would be considered very rude in the US or basically any place in the rest of the developed world. I'm not sure how China missed the boat on politeness in the past 5,000 years. I also don't know what people actually care about or respect in China because it seems like nothing really matters. I suppose that is what communism and 1.3 billion people does to you. Maybe it works for everyone there just fine, but it's just not for me I suppose.

Ok. Now that all the negativity is off my chest we did have a few wonderful experiences in China. In Chengdu we went to a Sichuan opera performance at a traditional tea house venue. The instruments I believe are made to reflect the pitch and tonal qualities of the Chinese voice, which made for some interesting and unique sounds. The erhu was a particularly beautiful small stringed instrument played with a bow that we enjoyed. There were a few operatic singing and dancing performances in elaborate colorful costumes. We also saw the most detailed hand puppet experience you could imagine with individual moving fingers and blinking eyes all controlled by one guy dancing around. Our favorite part of the show by far however was the shadow puppet show. Whoa. It took making little bunny ears in the wall to a whole new level. Look one up online to get the full experience.

Chengdu is also famous for its pandas. It has the largest breeding center in the world, and nearby are some of the only areas that the giant pandas still live in the wild. I think we could have watched baby pandas try to eat and bumble around the entire day. We also saw a number of the fox like smaller red pandas.

During the middle of our stay in Chengdu we took a bus to Leshan to see the largest carved Buddha in the world. It was rather amazing at over 1200 years old carved out of a cliff directly over a river and 233 feet tall. Unfortunately the statue is slowly being worn away and faded from the original color of the surrounding red cliffs by acid rain from the pollution. From Leshan we went to Mt. Emei, which is one of the famous Buddhist mountains in China with dozens of temples and a summit with a beautiful golden Buddha and elephant statue where you can stand above the clouds at over 9,000 feet. Unfortunately, on the day we visited the whole entire mountain was shrouded in fog with snow still prevalent on the ground. It was also completely packed with tours led by guides yelling into microphones that came out through tiny terrible speakers on their belts to hoard the masses of Chinese tourists. In addition, everyone still throws trash all over the place and feeds the unhealthy, fat, and aggressive monkeys that have become so due to people who continually disrespect the place.

The next day we went to the old town of Ping Le that has been around in some form for over 1,000 years. A good number of the buildings were over 150 years old, and we had a nice time with a local tour guide who also has her own guest house. Her family also owns a tea plantation at which we were served an amazing meal cooked by her mother. We visited the chickens and pigs they had out back, and then went to work picking some baby Chinese tea leaves in the field. It was a beautiful day and we finally got a bit of fresh air and bluish sky.

We arrived back at Sim's Hostel, our home away from home in Chengdu, and after a few more meals from the hostel's excellent restaurant and several more mini ping pong tournaments we headed back to Hong Kong.

We used another free Hilton night to stay at one of the nicest hotels in the world. We stayed at the Conrad 59 floors up across from the executive lounge with free amazing food and drinks all day and views of the magnificent Victoria Harbor. Strange to imagine that I stayed at the Hampton Inn in Guntersville, Alabama to get free nights in $600 rooms in Hong Kong. We spent the day resolving an ATM malfunctioning taking money issue from the week before, and taking in the peaceful view at the beach at Repulse Bay where all of the hustle of the city can fade away in a 20 minute drive. We are excited to get to our next destination of South Africa to see the sun again in full force against a blue sky without our eyes burning uncontrollably from pollution, and seeing amazing animals in their natural habitat.